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Gissing, George, 1857-1903

"The Unclassed"

He could not
find words to soothe her, but passed his hand very tenderly over her
head.
"We are losing time!" she exclaimed, forcing herself into an
appearance of calmness. "Come at once."


CHAPTER XXX
ELM COURT


In Beaufort Street they only learnt that Waymark had not yet been
home. Thence they drove to the east, and stopped at a
police-station, where Abraham saw the inspector. The latter
suggested that Mr. Woodstock should go through all the houses which
Waymark would have visited; if that search proved fruitless, the
police would pursue the matter. Ida insisted on being allowed to
accompanying him when the cab stopped at the end of Litany Lane. She
gazed about her like one who had been suddenly set down in a new
country; this squalor and vileness, so familiar to her of old,
affected her strangely under the present conditions. The faces of
people at whom she looked remained fresh in her memory for years
after; the long confinement and the excitement which now possessed
her resulted in preternatural acuteness of observation. Abraham
spoke first with several people whom he had already questioned about
Waymark, but they had heard nothing since.


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